Daily Comment on News and Issues of Interest to Michigan Lawyers

April 2020

04/23/2020

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the State Bar of Michigan will not publish a May issue of the Michigan Bar Journal. We will continue to offer timely news and updates of interest to Michigan lawyers on michbar.org.

We look forward to returning with a Michigan Bar Journal in June. We plan to feature articles related to the scheduled theme of bankruptcy.

Meanwhile, we’re looking for online article submissions related to COVID-19 and the practice of law. If you’re interested in sharing your story or expertise as a lawyer practicing during the pandemic in an article for michbar.org, we’d love to hear from you. Information about submitting an article can be found here. Please contact editor Linda Novak with any questions.

If you have questions about advertising, please contact Stacy Ozanich.

04/10/2020

The latest executive order from Gov. Whitmer encourages the use of electronic signatures and remote notarization, witnessing, and visitation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Executive Order 2020-41 will facilitate the completion of legal documents that are more crucial now than ever, but were otherwise difficult or impossible to handle during the pandemic.

“The problem of how to validate critical legal documents in a quarantine environment was a difficult and crucial issue,“ State Bar of Michigan President Dennis M. Barnes said. “The State Bar thanks the governor for the thorough and thoughtful guidance provided in the executive order. We also applaud the Probate and Estate Planning and Elder Law and Disability Rights sections of the State Bar for proactively raising this critical issue and for using their subject matter expertise and valuable insight in offering a solution to this unprecedented problem.”

Here are the highlights for lawyers:

Strict compliance with the rules and procedures of the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act and the Michigan Law on Notarial Acts is temporarily suspended under specified conditions.

Any requirement under Michigan law that an in-person witness attest to or acknowledge an instrument, document, or deed may be satisfied by the use of two-way real-time audiovisual technology, under detailed conditions spelled out in the order. The recording must be kept for at least three years, or a different period of time required by law.

State laws requiring an individual to appear personally before or be in the presence of either a notary at the time of a notarization or a witness at the time of attestation or acknowledgment are satisfied if the necessary persons can communicate simultaneously by sight and sound via two-way real-time audiovisual technology at the time of the notarization, attestation, or acknowledgment.

Financial institutions and registers of deeds must not refuse to record a tangible copy of an electronic record on the ground that it does not bear the original signature of a person, witness, or notary, if the notary before whom it was executed certifies that the tangible copy is an accurate copy of the electronic record.

The executive order, which took effect immediately, continues through May 6, 2020.

Among its many upsides, the order makes it easier to complete important legal work for those on the frontline of the pandemic response. The State Bar of Michigan is launching two initiatives in response to the COVID-19 crisis that give you opportunities to help. More information can be found here.

04/06/2020

The U.S. Supreme Court has postponed its April oral argument session, scheduled to run from April 20 through April 29, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This follows the postponement of its March session, and creates some uncertainty as to whether the Court will complete its full docket before it recesses in late July.

According to the Court’s press release, it “will consider rescheduling some cases from the March and April sessions before the end of the Term, if circumstances permit in light of public health and safety guidance at that time.” It will also “consider a range of scheduling options and other alternatives if arguments cannot be held in the Courtroom before the end of the Term.”

Among the cases that would have been heard in the April session were a pair of consolidated cases involving religious and moral exemptions to the Affordable Care Act's requirement for employer health plans to cover birth control, and a pair of consolidated cases involving defect and negligence suits against Ford Motor Co.

Meanwhile, the Court will continue to proceed with the resolution of all cases argued this term, will post opinions on its website, and will continue to hold its regularly scheduled conferences and issue order lists.

The last time the Supreme Court postponed oral arguments due to a public health crisis was during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic.

04/01/2020

Vacancy information and nominating petitions are available on the State Bar Election Notice for the 2020 elections. Petitions are used to submit your name for one of the leadership roles at the State Bar of Michigan or Judicial Tenure Commission. Petitions must be filed with the State Bar between April 1, 2020, and April 30, 2020.

Due to the COVID-19 situation, please follow the following procedures for completing and submitting petitions:

As a substitute for physical signatures, we will accept electronic confirmation of nomination support in the following format:

I support the nomination of [CANDIDATE ATTORNEY’S NAME] to serve on the [POSITION] for the [XX] District/Circuit.

My office is located in the [XX] District/Circuit.

[NOMINATING ATTORNEY’S NAME]

[NOMINATING ATTORNEY’S P NUMBER]

[NOMINATING ATTORNEY’S OFFICE ADDRESS]

Michigan lawyers are advised that the following elections will be held in June 2020:

A statewide election for a non-judicial member of the Judicial Tenure Commission

Elections for the members of the Representative Assembly in 38 judicial circuits

Elections for members of the Board of Commissioners in four commissioner districts

Elections for members of the Young Lawyers Section Executive Council in three districts

All ballots will be electronic and sent to all active State Bar attorneys by June 1, 2020, to the email address on file with the State Bar. To ensure you receive a ballot and notifications about the election, please make certain that the State Bar has your current email address on file. Ballots must be completed online no later than June 15, 2020.